5 Steps to Prevent Professional Burnout
Originally posted 9/23/22
Burnout! Professional burnout. These are very real things. If you haven’t yet read my recent blog post about having to take on a part-time job, I will link it here. It’s the product of what today's blog post is all about. Professional burnout. Or, more in my case, professional laziness. But let’s stick with burnout. As an entrepreneur who handles all facets of your business, burnout is real. It happens to many professionals and self-employed entrepreneurs even more so. So how do we avoid it? And once we’ve succumbed to it, how do we bounce back?
One of the first things to recognize is that burnout is a product of an exhausted and overwhelmed brain. This mental health issue plagues the professional world from the bottom to the top. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or even afraid of. It is something to be aware of and to work towards avoiding not just for your business but for your overall health and wellness.
Before we get into our 5 steps to prevent burnout, let's look at the signs and symptoms that you are or are headed toward burnout. This data was provided by Thrive Global:
Feeling tired and exhausted
Pessimism about the results of your work.
Feeling useless and uncreative
Unmotivated
Lack of interest in things you used to enjoy
Constant complaining
Reduced performance at work
Trouble focusing and concentrating
Insomnia
Low-Grade headache
Digestive problems
These symptoms could also be a sign of other things going on, but overall burning out on your job or your business isn’t a failing on your part; your systems are overwhelmed, and it can be avoided. In the article “Marketing Burnout'' How to Deal with it” by Ivana Taylor of DIY Marketers.com, Taylor does a wonderful job of walking you through the cause and effects of burnout for marketing companies and teams, but it fits perfectly with the same symptoms we encounter as entrepreneurs. I am pulling the 5 steps to avoid professional burnout from her.
#1. Create a Realistic Job Description
This tip may seem to only work for employees, but I would challenge you to consider it a tool for you and your business. I have, in the past, written out a job description for each role I assume as a business owner. Here are the steps Taylor lists for you to create that job description.
Make a list of every task you do and how long it takes.
Review that task list and identify any repeatable tasks that can be automated.
Look at the tasks left and see how critical they are to implementing your marketing strategy successfully. ( I will add your business plan and strategy as well.) If they are critical, see if you can outsource them. If they are not- they have to go. -Ivana Taylor
#2. Focus on Self-Care
Burnout is a mental health issue; as with any mental health issue, you must take special care. I love what Taylor says here.
“If you were sick, you might spend the day in bed. But if you are feeling bad, for whatever reason, lack of sleep, poor eating habits, overwhelmed, etc., then you need to take a mental health day.”- Ivana Taylor
Her suggestion is to take a day off. Do things that help you unwind and destress.
#3. Make Healthy Eating a Priority
I don’t know a human soul who doesn't find comfort and release in snacking on junk food. But we all know, studies show, and quite frankly, it's common sense, that to be healthy, we must eat healthily. That doesn’t just affect our bodies but also our minds.
#4. Remember- You Choose
This might be my favorite tip. When you feel the burnout chasing you, take a moment to remember that you have more control over your situations, especially as a business owner, than you might think you do! Taylor has a great quote in this tip, “Take the Flip Side of any overwhelming situation and see it as something that's happened For you rather than To you.” You have the power to change how you look at any situation. Give it a try.
#5. Create a Motivation Plan
When I first read this, I thought, “how can you plan your motivation?” However, the more I read, the more I understood the idea, and I think it’s downright brilliant. She gives a list of suggested activities to help amp up your motivation. She also suggests you keep a record of the motivating things so you can refer back to them when you need a little motivation “pick me up.”
Create a Youtube playlist that includes inspirational and motivational content.
Watch a Ted Talk
Chat with a friend- It can be any friend. In-person, on the phone, via zoom, or through Facebook calls. Chat with someone who you know will light that fire you need lit.
Unplug and stay away from social media
Color, Draw, or Paint
Play an instrument
Taylor has curated a beautiful list, but there are other things you could add to that. Dig through your journals and calendars, find your exciting success, and bring them to the front of your thoughts as a reminder of how excited you were about that project or task.
You can do other things to help lessen the pressure and stress that can lead to burnout. The author outlines the following smaller steps that could have a massive impact.
Sleep Habits: Her article speaks to marketing professionals, but as a business owner, it's really easy to stay up till dawn doing all the things you couldn’t get done during the day. This won’t help your mental health or your physical health. Make Sleep a priority.
Phone Calls: This can line up with sleep. Set your phone's sleep mode to prevent calls and texts from coming through while sleeping or spending time with friends and family.
Time management: She suggests that we become rigorous schedulers. I tend to agree with her. If it's not scheduled, it can either be overlooked or stomped all over a perfectly planned day. Take this scheduling time to block off time to breathe, eat, walk, and, you know… hit the bathroom.
Avoid an unmanageable workload: That might seem impossible if you are like me, a one-man band, but it's vital to the overall wellness of you and me. Six months into my business, I suffered severe heart attack symptoms that turned out to be a mean-as-hell panic attack. I realized quickly that giving myself space and grace was better for me as a human being, and turned out to be the best thing I did for my business.
Lack of Focus: How do you eat an elephant (metaphorically speaking)? You know the saying, one bite at a time. We can’t always work on one thing at a time, but making that your goal is really important.
I enjoyed this article, and I hope you'll jump over to take a look. Overall, I hope this all resonates with you. It's so important to take care of yourself. That often becomes the last thing we do because everything and everyone needs everything we have. I know it, but do yourself, your business, and your relationships a favor and take a beat. Do some self-evaluations and review the signs of impending burnout. If you're checking that list off quickly, I suggest you quickly work on the abovementioned steps. If you have already fallen and are in the midst of burnout, I will talk next week about how to recover and recover quickly.
Till then, take care of yourselves, and I will see you again next week.
Jennifer Cooper- JKC Mobile Notary
